A Visit to the Forest of Suffering
by The Legendary Falcon Fall
Summary: There once lived a poor but kind man named Wally, blessed by the gods...


_Based off of A Visit to Hell, a Chinese folklore._

 _Characters:_ _Ch'uan Ju-Yu (Wally), Taoist Scholar (Hoopa!Shauna)_

* * *

"That's it for today Wally!" a dark brown haired woman said to the man as he placed two baskets of berries and bottles on the table.

"Not a problem Miss Falcon," he replied with a smile, then coughed.

The woman frowned, and asked, "Wally, are you alright?"

The man looked up to her and smiled. "It's nothing Miss, don't worry."

"Well I should be," she insisted. "You moved here to relieve of your asthma when you were eleven, and you lost your family right after you turned eighteen. You can't leave from this place lest you want your illness catch up to you, so you're pretty much stuck with selling berries and herbs when they're in season and doing small jobs that barely pays you."

"But my asthma is better than when I was young from the work," he pointed out. "And even with the little amount of money I make every day, there is still work. My mind is much too restless to stay still."

"Whatever you say Wally," she sighed. "I'm just concerned for you, that's all."

"I appreciate your worries Miss, but there is no need," he insisted. "I'm still walking after thirty years of having asthma. I can still walk thirty years after." He walked towards the main door, opened it, bid farewell to the woman, then left.

The next day, he decided to take a stroll on the peaceful path east of the town, enjoying the wonderful wind that always helped him to breathe easier and the happiness that passersby radiated from the wonderful weather.

He took a deep sigh, inhaling the lovely scent of the blossoming flowers, and smiled. It was a truly beautiful day, with the bright blue sky above and the sun shining cheerfully, a sign that Solgaleo was in a good mood during his daily travel on the sky path.

"Excuse me sir?" a high pitched voice asked.

Wally turned to where the voice was.

And it belonged to a young girl with a gentle smile.

She had mocha brown skin, an unusual sight to see around Hoenn, and brilliant emerald green eyes that gave off an aura of wisdom. Her dark brown hair was tied in a ponytail, and she was dressed in a simple sleeveless, light purple dress. She wore golden hoop earrings and pink bands on her wrists, and when Wally looked down on her feet, he saw that she wore no shoes at all, despite the worth of the rings she wore, and a golden hoop anklet on her left ankle.

"Yes young one?" he replied with the a kind smile.

"Can you take me to the path on east of Mauville City?" Her smile then formed in favor of a distressed expression. "I...don't know where I am."

"I'll take you there," he said without hesitation.

"Thank you kind sir!" she replied with a smile.

"We're almost there!" Wally announced to the girl following him as they walked down the northern path of the city, much more calmer than the bustle he was not exposed to often.

"Alright!" she replied, and continued walking.

As they continued their travel, Wally began to wonder about the young girl. Where were her parents? And what was she doing near Verdanturf Town? She had golden hoop rings as jewelry, yet wore no shoes at all. She didn't seem to talk much, despite her friendly aura. And she hadn't even revealed her name, though he was too polite to ask. After all, the girl could've been taught to never tell any stranger her name.

He shook the thoughts off his mind and continued his peaceful walk, until they arrived at the small beach, bare of any people or Pokemon.

"We're here!" he declared.

"Ah finally!" she sighed, and breathed in the merciful air, before turning to him with a smile. "Once more, thank you."

"Your welcome!" he said.

"And I have to say, Giratina was rather right about you," she continued, her eyes closed.

"What?"

Suddenly, horns appeared from the sides of the girl's head, her earrings now taking place on her horns. The ears themselves had formed into a more pointier shape, and a golden ring had wrapped itself around her head. She opened her eyes, revealing yellow sclera surrounding her emerald green irises that had darkened with graveness.

Wally stumbled backwards, and blurted out, "Who are you!?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to introduce myself properly," she said with a hint of sarcasm. "I am Hoopa, god of mischief, death, hyperspace, Rings of the Worlds, creation of Giratina and other stuff that I have no idea on how I got that from you mortals."

Shock, confusion, terror, and panic washed over him, as he can feel his last breath taken before he is possessed by the claws in his lungs, but somehow, it never came. Instead, relief had rested onto his chest, a feeling of freedom for the first time in life had taken hold.

He took one long breath, then sighed. No coughing fits. No shortness of air. No tight feeling in his chest.

He looked at the god, whose eyes were fixed on him as if she expected something.

"T-thank y-you H-hoopa," he stammered.

"Not a problem," she shrugged. "You're pretty nice, for a mortal, and illnesses are part of my domain, so that asthma thing isn't really much of a big of a deal. But anyways, I need to get straight to the point."

Wally gave a nervous nod.

"Giratina really likes you," she started. "You're much more moral than most of the world, in your mind and when actually doing it, and out of pure good will too. You may not seem much to your fellow humans, but in many of the other gods' eyes, you're very praiseworthy. Of course, I took that with a grain of salt, and I was proven wrong."

"W-what a-an h-honor H-hoopa…"

"Oh very much so," she agreed. "Your fate is much more better than the clever people, who use their talents to do or spread of immoral things and now spend eternity in the Forest of Suffering. And I am here to take you to see that, if you want to."

The words of the horrifying afterlife scared Wally to his nerves, but curiosity overwhelming him, he cleared his throat in preparation for his words and nodded. "Yes Hoopa. You can take me."

"Alright then," she said, taking a ring off her left ear, which expanded to a portal, seemingly leading to a seemingly dark place. "Brace yourself."

Wally nodded, and went into the portal.

Out he came, to a dark, cloudy forest.

Wally was surprised at such accuracy the scholars had taken of the place, but he didn't think much of it, as annoyance and confusion had swamped his mind from the air, fluctuating between heavy heat and merciless freezing, and aridness and dankness.

He suddenly shuddered from the foreboding and anticipating silence, as if it expected to be shattered into pieces, and a lurker in the shadows, seemingly trying to pierce through his soul.

"W-what w-was t-that?" he stuttered.

"Probably Giratina or Yveltal in the shadows," she answered. "They like to watch over the residents around here. A barrel of laughs aren't they?"

"I-i see…"

"But I hope you enjoy your stay here, at the Forest of Suffering, Hell, Shinrikushmi, Enfer, whatever," she said sarcastically.

"Well it's a bit...dark and musty for my tastes. And...dead."

Suddenly, a Houndoom - no- a _pack_ of them's howl shattered the gloomy quietness, and a tall man with ginger hair, dressed in a patched brown robe and covered in burn marks, broke through the fog, gritting his teeth in pain as he dashed through the forest and away from the pursuing hounds. He returned to the mist once more, the Houndooms following after.

"That man, Lysandre, was a famous inventor for a magical communication device and some other things," she explained. "Turned out to be plotting a way on how to make your world "beautiful" again, or in better words, destroy it."

Wally winced, but nodded for her to continue.

"Got killed in a cave in caused by Diancie and his comrades," she finished. "As much as I agree with him, destroying the world is not a good idea. Mostly because it's really depressing to enter in and that there are some beautiful things in the world. Just got to look through all of that ugly things."

She walked forward, until they ended up to a place where a rock stood.

And on it was a chained woman.

Her pink hair flailed wildly with her, as she tried to struggle through the chains, screaming often, or at least, Wally thought she did.

"Malva, a famous news reporter of Lysandre's communication device and his comrade and admirer," she said. "Much more insane than him."

"That's saying a lot," he commented.

"Uh huh," she agreed. "Also died with Lysandre in that cave in. Now she gets to listen to all of her failures for all of eternity through a choir of Mismagius, invisible and unhearable to you. Let's continue."

As Wally traveled further into the dead, dark forest, he grew more horrified and nauseous of the place, and at the same time, thankful to not being fated to stay in. He knew that the gods were truly vicious to those who did evil, Hoopa enforcing it even more with her words. It was even more disturbing to Wally, as the words of horror were born from a youthful face.

They were at a spot where a man was chained by his feet to the ground and swarmed by ruthless Crobats, according to Hoopa, a punishment for the man sacrificing several people for money, when Wally started to speak up, after swallowing his vomit crawling up in his throat.

"Hoopa, thank you for this visit," he started. "And uh, say that to G-giratina too, but I would like to leave this place."

"Sure," she shrugged. "I'm pretty sure you swallowed your lunch after seeing that naked guy with green hair get attacked by a bunch of Hydreigons hanged over a fire pit of Houndoom flames and surrounded by singing Mismagius."

"That actually was true…."

"Thought so." She took off her left earring, which expanded into a portal. "This will take you back to your house. And I hope you have a nice life. You deserve it."

"You too Hoopa," he replied, then went up to the portal. "May you have Xerneas shine your path." He then went into it, and forever left the forest.

Life went on since then. Wally still did the same things he did before, but he made a habit of warning children of the consequences of committing evil acts and telling those who did immoral deeds the unusual phrase that is "Be careful of what you do, you will regret it in the afterlife.". Much strange was it to his neighbors of the minor change, but Wally ignored them. After all, they wouldn't believe of his story, even when formed in front of their eyes.


End file.
